Flirting with a guy, but afraid my parents will find out and disown me

Call the police, frame your parents, get new parents, problem solved.

he a gold digger

Sad to say it is unlikely to work out. Too different.

What you need to beware of is hurting your relationship with your family and this going nowhere eventually anyway.

good to see you've internalised your parents' spiel and put their interests above yours

Girl, dating that guy is not a good idea at all. Not only you are creating a brewing ground for resentment because he might feel uncomfortable over the wealth disparities between the two of you, but also, are you sure he is a good influence? You're doing your masters and he flunked year 2 of his course...doesn't say good things about his work ethic, don't you think? He will probably hinder and distract you, meaning that you will lose focus on what's truly important and that's your studies. You are moving onto your Masters and I am sure you'll get to know plenty of like-minded people.

Now switch the genders

Why not find someone who is your social equal? Do you suffer from low self esteem or something that makes you feel you are not attractive to a man from your own social background?

Also you mention religion, what religion is he? Are we talking Muslim?

Okay, so there's this guy I have known for the past year or so. We went to the same uni, but were doing completely different subjects. While I have graduated and will be doing a Masters at a Russell Group uni, he has stayed behind and still has two years to finish his degree after flunking year 2. That, in itself, is not a problem as both universities are in the same city and we could still see each other through our friends or while hanging out.

However, the real trouble is our different social classes and his religious background. My upbringing has been pretty much what you would expect from someone within the middle upper-class: jetting off around the world in Business class, nannies and maids at our disposition, gigantic flats/houses in expensive areas, tennis and piano classes and of course, incredibly expensive private schools. His, not so much. He immigrated from his home country as a child, lives in council housing and works as a kitchen porter to afford his studies, as well as the fact that he is still doing his undergraduate degree.

My parents are always comparing me to my siblings and talking about how successful they are with their partners and how, said partners, are all educated to Masters level and the such. They are pretty driven by social status quo in this sense, as they don't want to see their daughter living below her upbringing. And it disgusts me that I cannot be with someone who I care and love deeply because of this attitude. But, at the same time, I don't want to sacrifice neither my relationship with my parents nor that I have with this person. We are taking things slowly and seeing where it takes out, although we have no commitments to each other as of yet and we are just testing the waters. We almost kissed a couple of days ago, but I pushed back as I didn't feel it was the right time.

I have had my flings, of course, and ended a long-term relationship by the time I was in second year (let's just say that long-distance didn't work for either of us ). We ended becoming acquainted through mutual friends, and we just hit it off. Being around him makes me feel at ease and I can express myself without feeling that my opinions are being judged. He admitted that he has liked me for over a year, and I reciprocate such feelings. If I haven't taken things further is because I don't like rushing these things and because I am terrified of what my parents will say.

He is atheist, but was born within a Muslim family and my parents are anti-Muslim, which I think is bulls*** and repulsive. We have had our arguments over it and I know for a fact that, if I was to tell them that he was originally Muslim, they would probably kick him out of our house.They have said so before.